It is the time of year where you may be seeing all the wonderful holiday pictures you’ve taken and wish they were on your wall rather than your phone, or maybe you have some old family photos.

That's where Keith Butler and Extreme Imaging come into focus.

Tucked away at 18 Alliance Blvd., Extreme Imaging handles services such as reproducing art, printing for photographers (whether professional or amateur) and transferring film to a more updated and watchable source.

Butler started the company with his family and, while they have been in the current location for six years, they had been in the Bayfield Mall for a decade previously.

In the age of selfies and phone albums, Butler told BarrieToday he gets a lot of sentimentalists looking to keep their moments in a more permanent display.

“We have a lot of people who need to get pics from their phone to 4x6’s for only 40 cents apiece. And we see a lot of that as people not only want to clear their phones, but have the keepsake for around their house,” said Butler.

“Before Christmas, we had a lot of people coming in looking to give pictures as gifts, and it's easily done. If you’re really busy, you can upload the pictures directly to our website and pick them up later.”

Butler has a background in colour, art and prepress. For many years, he worked for companies to ensure images looked good before they went to print in magazines and other publications.

Currently, Butler is touching up an old photograph of a soldier from years gone by that had lots of water damage when it was brought in, but now looks good as new.

“We often have clients who have pictures that have been handed down, but have deteriorated and faded,” said Butler. “We have had many situations where someone feels it is hopeless, but truthfully, it rarely is and in some way it can be saved and made to look beautiful again.”

Butler’s son handles the video transferring, his daughter takes care of the social media and his wife is in charge of the books, making Extreme Imaging a true family business.

After years of working under other people, Butler says he is happy to do what he loves and with his family.

“I worked all over the place, but seemed to be in the right place at the right time, kind of like Forrest Gump,” Butler said. “I worked part-time as a delivery guy for a company delivering items and kept watching the inner workings of the place until I moved upward and was working in their camera department. They were also the first Canadian company to have a scanner.

"I was working on machines that were pretty much the precursor to all the stuff we have now so my experience very much ground level and up," he added.

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